Images and messages
- Transforming common representations
- From Moulay Abdellah Stadium to the Zarzuela Palace
- Affective communities of meaning
A year ago, an admirable royal image had deeply marked the spirits of all Moroccans, and what better way to restore normality in these times of rumors, lies, and fake news than the power of an image, the pedagogy of a perception, the effect of a perfectly constructed self-image, of our image, of all of us, of every Moroccan family, of the Royal Family.
What could be better than this image of a family stroll through the streets of Paris, combining simplicity and conviviality, and reflecting a modern and accessible image of the Moroccan monarchy? The photo, taken in November 2024 during an informal stroll in Paris and widely circulated on social media and in the Moroccan media, depicts an intimate family moment with King Mohammed VI surrounded by his children: Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan (left) and Princess Lalla Khadija (right), together, relaxed and happy, the King, like any father who wants to please his children, accompanying the two princes on a pleasant and ordinary family outing.
The King presides in the center, dominating the family scene with his paternal posture and active gesture: he tenderly adjusts the scarf that is slipping off his daughter's shoulder. Prince Moulay El Hassan stands slightly behind, his hands relaxed, Princess Lalla Khadija smiling and receptive to the gesture, under a gray Paris sky that evokes a serene winter. An emblematic image that goes far beyond the framework of a simple family photograph to become a polysemic representation, where the sovereign's body embodies both the private man and the political body of the State.
We are all familiar with the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words,” yet images can also convey meanings and emotions that go beyond the scope of words, allowing us to generate, reinforce, and modify perceptions, attitudes, and mentalities.
The imposing photographs of public figures who have gone down in history capture postures of defiance, determination, or transcendence, crystallizing pivotal moments that have forged collective legends, and thus illustrate how an image can contribute to building and maintaining a collective identity, to imposing an embodied vision of leadership, where the leader's body—upright, furious, or humble—materializes authority, rupture, or transcendence, transforming the individual into a symbol of the nation and shared values.
Transforming common representations
The modern record of political communication provides us with highly expressive images, such as that of Mao Zedong swimming in the Yangtze River in 1966, at the age of 72, and his “superhuman regeneration”; or that of Gandhi spinning on a spinning wheel, an iconic symbol of nonviolent resistance and Indian economic self-sufficiency; the portrait of Churchill with his furious gaze symbolizing the indomitable Allied resistance; the cliché of Guevara with his gaze lost on the horizon and his iconic beard, transforming the guerrilla fighter into an eternal martyr inciting global revolt; Xi Jinping's firm posture with his straight body, square shoulders, and fixed gaze conveying feelings of unshakeable authority, historical continuity, and imposing power; the humanistic gesture of King Mohammed VI bowing to kiss the forehead of his former prime minister, the socialist leader Abderramán Yussufi, who is now frail and hospitalized, embodying a visual rhetoric of royal paternalism and post-alternation harmony; also the historic video of the Sovereign triumphantly entering the 5th African Union summit; the images of Trump with his fist raised symbolizing his combative vitality; of Putin hunting a tiger, practicing judo, or piloting a submarine, portraying a strong and invincible man; and those of several other political leaders, overflowing with feelings of power or rupture, humility or proximity, renewal or confidence.
In political communication, image is defined by the way the public perceives a personality, based on specific personal characteristics and qualities made public through direct communication, the media, and social networks.As a communication structure, image guarantees the accuracy of information transmission and the consistency of the sender's and receiver's sign systems; it allows attention to be captured in an environment saturated with messages, especially through television, advertising posters, and social media.
In addition to nurturing and transforming common representations (nation, people, order, identity, etc.) and, therefore, the way politics itself is viewed, images condense complex issues into easily memorable symbols (protective leader, promising candidate, outsider, etc.), which structures political attitudes more quickly than a detailed argument.
From Moulay Abdellah Stadium to the Zarzuela Palace
At the twilight of 2025, during this week marked by African sporting fervor and European Christmas contemplation, two emblematic images have emerged in the public sphere in both Morocco and Spain, captivating the collective imagination and transcending cultural boundaries.
The first, on December 21 at the Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, showed the son of King Mohammed VI serenely descending under a torrential downpour to kick off the opening match of the African Cup of Nations (CAN 2025), greeting players and spectators in a gesture of ecstatic communion, drenched by the rain from the sky, which dissolved the princely body in the scorching heat of mass popular enthusiasm.
Just three days later, on December 24, the second image exposed an unprecedented royal scene: King Felipe VI of Spain revolutionized his traditional Christmas message by delivering it standing and moving around the Hall of Columns of the Royal Palace, thus breaking decades of protocol rigidity imposed by the seated position, to project dynamism and a lively presence before the nation.
These visual sequences, separated by just 72 hours and 14 kilometers across the Strait, were not mere passing events, but powerful moments of symbolic renewal, as well as the production of meanings that humanize the monarchical image: Moulay El Hassan embodying values of affection and closeness, but also of resilience and sharing to the point of getting wet; Felipe VI, concerned with conveying the image of a more dynamic monarchy, expresses himself in motion, leading the way amid tensions and uncertainties.
The image of Crown Prince Moulay El Hassan fully exposed to heavy rain during the inauguration of CAN 2025 conveys a message of resilience, devotion, and closeness to the people. His gesture of taking the honorary kickoff, smiling and standing tall despite the storm, is read as a symbol of firm leadership, commitment to national events, and resilience in the face of restrictions.
The image of the Crown Prince insisting on remaining on the field exposed to heavy rain without protection to greet the players of the two African teams one by one evokes, in the perception of Moroccans, a sense of responsibility perfectly assumed, determination in the face of challenges, and unwavering resilience in the fulfillment of duty, which arouses admiration, inspires pride, and reinforces the image of an accessible and courageous future king.
King Felipe VI's 2025 Christmas message generated numerous comments in the Spanish media due to his innovative appearance standing throughout the speech, an unprecedented gesture that breaks with the tradition of sitting. Experts in nonverbal communication highlight an evolution in his body language, which is more dynamic and approachable.Reactions on social media and in the digital media praise this stance for conveying naturalness and presence, interpreting the king's appearance standing in the Zarzuela Hall, without support, as a deliberate change to reinforce solemnity and movement; his illustrative gestures with his hands accompanying the verbal message denoted greater fluidity and empathy. Thus, this image of the Christmas message in motion has been perceived as an effort to keep the royal body “sincere and fluid” rather than rigid, so as to distance it from the traditional image of a “talking head,” projecting closeness in a context of political tension.
Affective communities of meaning
It is clear that visual communication, beyond the simple signifying reach of images, has the capacity to generate true “affective communities of meaning,” deeply connecting individuals through emotion and multisensory experiences. It is precisely through this power that images shape our view of the world and have a lasting influence on our affections, thus giving visual media a central role in the dynamics of both national and international politics.
Several theorists extend the history of international relations beyond traditional diplomacy by integrating “deep forces,” of which “collective psychology” plays a key role in influencing state decisions through subjective and collective perceptions. Case studies have shown how the image of oneself abroad and the image of the other at home shape public opinion about the outside world, mobilizing it to support or reject alliances, sometimes beyond economic or geopolitical interests.
Certainly, images are omnipresent in international politics, but how can we understand them? How can we grasp the temporal coincidence of these images that break down barriers by projecting proximity and resilience? How can we interpret the synchronization of images of a crown prince embracing the storm in full immersion and those of a king in motion revitalizing his institutional presence? Do these images have a specific power? To what extent can they move us and connect us viscerally in an “affective community of senses”?
Despite the structural differences between the Spanish and Moroccan monarchies, the vibrant images of Prince Moulay El Hassan, serene under the torrential rain at the opening of the CAN, and King Felipe VI, radiant with dynamism during his Christmas message, project, in both cases, a shared vitality, contagious energy, and human closeness that inspire hope and confidence in a Euro-Mediterranean context marked by geopolitical uncertainty.
It is highly significant from a historical and political point of view that, throughout the Mediterranean basin—the cradle of civilizations—we find only two historic monarchies, Spain and Morocco, which have survived all the upheavals and weathered the most intense turmoil with an exceptional capacity for historical continuity. These two monarchies today occupy comparable geopolitical positions: Spain as a bridge between Latin Europe, the Atlantic world, and the Mediterranean; Morocco, for its part, connecting Africa, the Arab world, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean.
Unlike other Mediterranean monarchies that have disappeared, the Spanish monarchy, after successive interruptions and restorations since the 19th century, was reconstituted after the Franco dictatorship in 1975, drawing on its secular heritage (Catholic monarchy, national unity), while the Moroccan monarchy has never been interrupted, not even under the protectorate. In both cases, the monarchy is not only a regime but also a civilizing institution, predating the modern state. Among these bridge states there is a high degree of complementarity and potential for complementary synergy, especially between the positive images of their monarchical institutions, driven by excellent bilateral relations and stabilizing leadership that reinforces historical legitimacy in the face of populist extremism and the challenges of separatism and balkanization.
William A. Callahan, in his work Sensible Politics: Visualizing International Relations (Oxford University Press, 2020), extends the analysis of international relations beyond traditional textual sources, treating images as performative elements that actively shape political experiences and construct social and world orders through embodied affective encounters, fostering “affective communities of meaning.” It is from this perspective that the central place occupied by images in the complex world of politics should be understood.
Given the historical problem of negative perceptions that have always clouded relations between Spain and Morocco, the emblematic images currently projected by the two monarchies, beyond informing, memorizing, and staging, possess a powerful rhetoric capable of making the invisible visible, of acting directly on collective affections and imaginaries, hence their strong potential to reshape public opinion and, by extension, further strengthen the quality of bilateral relations between the two kingdoms.